Tanks in the World War One, Great Britain, France, Germany (1916-1918).
September 2001 marked the 85th anniversary since the first tanks' appearance
on the battlefields. Not a very round date, but it still deserves to be
noted. The tanks of WWI (excluding Renault FT-17) became the traditional
subjects of jokes and sympathetic commentaries. Indeed, they were not the
top of the technological achievements even for their own time, but those
awkward vehicles had one major advantage: they were the first. The tanks
entered the battlefields in the middle of WWI with slightly more than 25
months from its beginning and with slightly less than 26 months to its end,
but their appearance marked halfway not only the history of that conflict.
This event also indicated the beginning of a new era in military art. The
dawn of the tank building is interesting not only by the designs of fighting
machines that materialized or remained on paper and blueprints, but also by
the circumstances that caused the creation of first tanks, and the freshly
aroused issues of mass production, supply and maintenance of the new
fighting tool. Finally, the additional point of interest is the structure
and training of the first tank forces in history, and the combat experience
they acquired. The volume of this special issue limits us to the period of
1914-1918 (we will just touch upon the post-war fate of the first tanks) and
to the three countries: Great Britain, France and Germany, which managed not
only to begin the works on tank building but also get some combat experience
with them.List of Contents
The Appearance of TanksGreat Britain
Heavy Diamond Shaped Tanks
Mk. I - Mk. IV Tanks
Heavy Tanks of Mk. V-Mk. V** Series
Heavy Tanks of Mk. VI-Mk. IX Series
Medium Tanks
Medium Tank Mk. A "Whippet"
Medium Tanks Mk B, C, D
Tanks Gun-Transporters
Structure and Training of British Tank Forces
Tanks Painting and Insignia
Crews Kits
After-War Fate of British Tanks
British Tanks AbroadFrance
Medium Tanks
Medium Tank CA-1 "Schneider"
Medium Tank "Sent-Samone"
Light Tank Renault Ft-17
Experimental Heavy Tanks
Structure of the French Tank Forces
Tanks Painting and Insignia. Crews' Kits
After War Fate of French Tanks
French Tanks AbroadGermany
Heavy Tank A-7V
Experimental Tank A7VU
Experimental Light Tanks LK-I and LK-II
Experimental Super-Heavy Tank "K-Wagen" ("Kollossal")
German Designs of 1918
Organizational Structure of German Tank Forces
Painting and Insignia. Crews Kits.
Post-War Fate of German Tanks
Tanks in the Battles in 1916-1918
The Combat Usage of British
The Combat Usage of French Tanks
The Combat Usage of German Tanks
Anti-Tank Defense in 1916-1918
The War Experience
List of Literature
60 pages, 50 photographs, 12 drawings, 6 illustrations
Illustrations
1. Heavy tank Mk V
2. Heavy tank Mk V "Female"
3. Heavy tank Mk VIII "International"
4. Light tank Renault FT-17 with molded turret
5. Medium Tank CA-1 "Schneider"